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Victorian Club

The Victorian Club was founded in 1856, 'on a basis as popular as is compatible with respectability', as a meeting place for immigrants before the gold-rush era and the 1850s. Two hundred colonists were immediately admitted (which suggested the need for a second club) and quarters were leased in 100-102 Bourke Street West. With a membership that included judges, university professors, civil servants, politicians, merchants and professional men, it was the first club to reflect the diversity of gold-rush society. But this broad membership did not ensure survival. A year after the manager's trial for embezzlement in 1858 the club was wound up.

Paul De Serville